Uncovering the candidate genes related to sheep body weight using multi-trait genome-wide association analysis

Abstract

In sheep, body weight is an economically important trait. This study sought to map genetic loci related to weaning weight and yearling weight. To this end, a single-trait and multi-trait genome-wide association study (GWAS) was performed using a high-density 600 K single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) chip. The results showed that 43 and 56 SNPs were significantly associated with weaning weight and yearling weight, respectively. A region associated with both weaning and yearling traits (OARX: 6.74–7.04 Mb) was identified, suggesting that the same genes could play a role in regulating both these traits. This region was found to contain three genes ( TBL1X, SHROOM2 and GPR143 ). The most significant SNP was Affx-281066395, located at 6.94 Mb ( p = 1.70 × 10 −17 ), corresponding to the SHROOM2 gene. We also identified 93 novel SNPs elated to sheep weight using multi-trait GWAS analysis. A new genomic region (OAR10: 76.04–77.23 Mb) with 22 significant SNPs were discovered. Combining transcriptomic data from multiple tissues and genomic data in sheep, we found the HINT1 , ASB11 and GPR143 genes may involve in sheep body weight. So, multi-omic anlaysis is a valuable strategy identifying candidate genes related to body weight.